If there is a delay, Coughlan said, he hopes it's because they're trying to build a strong case against Jones.

"I'd like to see an arrest warrant now based on what they have and then add to it as more information comes in," Coughlan said.

"If he mugged me on the street, there'd be a charge," said Charlie Washer, who says Jones duped him out of $125,000.

"It's like when a child goes missing - the first few hours are the most critical."

Jones and his wife disappeared last week, and there is speculation he might have left the country.

On Tuesday, a British Airways flight attendant told Global TV he served Jones on a Thursday evening flight to London's Heathrow airport.

The airline later said no one by the name of Earl Jones or Bertram Jones boarded the flight.

"I would obviously prefer to see an arrest warrant" in case Jones is no longer in Canada and get Interpol

involved, Coughlan said.

In Quebec, pressing charges in cases of white-collar crime is no quick feat.

Vincent Lacroix, founder and ex-CEO of Norbourg Financial Group, was convicted of Quebec securities violations more than two years after police raided his Montreal offices. He bilked more than 9,000 clients out of almost $100 million and is awaiting trial in September on more than 100 fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from an RCMP investigation.

Two years ago, Triglobal president Thémistoklis Papadopoulos made headlines by allegedly investing almost $1 billion of his clients' money in illegal offshore funds.